Batman and Robin Debut Matching Costumes in Dark Redesign

Published Sep 1, 2026, 8:30 AM EDT Robert Wood is a writer and editor based out of Cheshire, England. He is the author of 'The False Elephant: and 99 Other Unreasonably Short Stories' - 100 stories, each told in exactly 100 words. Rob got into comics via Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man and the UK anthology 'The Mighty World of Marvel,' which was running Frank Miller's Daredevil, Classic Hulk and Contest of Champions II. Prior to journalism, he worked in copywriting and copyedited for Oxford University Press. He is on X as @PinchTwigs and Instagram as roobwoodjourno. DC just debuted an extreme redesign for iconic heroes Batman and Robin, as the Dynamic Duo reckon with Superman transforming the world as they know it. Here are their new redesigns, and our take on how successful DC's reimagining of the Dark Knight and the Boy Wonder has been. While Robin is often seen as a later addition to Batman lore, the character actually debuted in 1940, just one year into the Dark Knight's existence. Bruce has had numerous versions of Robin by his side since, with each traditionally graduating to their own vigilante identity such as Nightwing and the Red Hood. For pretty much all of his existence, Batman has had a Robin by his side, and even as DC changes almost everything about the Dark Knight's world, that remains the same... Father of Tomorrow's Batman and Robin Debut DC just debuted a new version of Batman in the pages of Superman: Father of Tomorrow #4, from Kenny Porter, Danny Earls, Nick Filardi and Lucas Gattoni. The series depicts a world where Superman's father Jor-El is the one who escaped Krypton's destruction, traveling to Earth and attempting to uplift the planet with his technology. In the most recent issue, Superman reaches out to this world's Batman, who has been fighting crime in Gotham for three years. He arrives during an attack by Scarecrow, who is using Kryptonian technology to spread fear across the city. Batman and Robin appear in dark armor with full-face masks, blocking Scarecrow's gas. Batman wears all-black armor with red detailing, reminiscent of the iconic Batman Beyond franchise, while Robin wears his traditional yellow, green and red with black detailing and heavy shadow, against a red-tinged Gotham that's likewise been upgraded by Kryptonian technology. It's a cool look for the Dark Knight, in a world that the vigilante speculates has technology at least 100 years in advance of what its native culture should have thanks to the 'Father of Tomorrow' and his actions, with Jor-El planning to release even more advanced tech in the near future. Batman's New Origin Is Fascinating But Underdeveloped While Batman and Robin certainly look cool, most Father of Tomorrow readers will likely feel short-changed by this new version of the heroes. Batman's origin in this world is rewritten so that his parents were killed by a gun upgraded with Kryptonian technology, making him cynical towards Jor-El's efforts to uplift humanity with advanced tech. However, the issue doesn't really explore how this has changed Batman's perspective on fighting crime. The death of Bruce Wayne's parents is fundamental to his identity as Batman, but very little comes of the fact that he believes he might have been able to save them if they'd been targeted by traditional weaponry. Robin gets even less exploration, and fans don't even find out who's behind the mask - a detail that would have been fascinating to fans of the franchise, given Jor-El's uplift of society could have changed each Robin's origin in startling ways. For a comic whose main draw is showing how DC lore could have taken a different path, both the Batman and Robin of this alternate world feel relatively rote, at least outside their new designs. However, fans shouldn't give up hope. In 2022, DC published Superman: Space Age from Mark Russel and Michael Allred, with a similar alt-universe premise. The series prompted the spin-off series Batman: Dark Age (Russel and Allred), so there's hope that Father of Tomorrow could likewise spawn its own spin-off exploring these new versions of Batman and Robin in more detail. Superman: Father of Tomorrow #4 is available now from DC Comics. Created By Bob Kane, Bill Finger First Appearance Detective Comics Alias Bruce Wayne Alliance Justice League, Outsiders, Batman Family Race Human Franchise D.C.